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The Base X combat system…

You’ve seen this mentioned before but here’s how I’ve played combat in Palladium for many years.

“An army moves as fast as its slowest man.”

Not everyone has the same number of attacks and yet all of their actions occur within the span of a melee round. (15 seconds, according to Palladium.) Traditionally I’ve heard of games being played where everyone takes their first action, then everyone takes their second action, etc and people essentially drop out as they run out of actions. To me, this doesn’t make sense as some people peak at 5 actions while others may only have 4 or as many as 7!

Combat will be determined thus:
1) Everyone rolls initiative as normal. This determines the order in which each character takes action.
2) Each player declares the TOTAL number of attacks/combat actions their character has. The lowest number of attacks determines how many rounds will be in that melee.
3) Characters who have more actions than rounds will have extra actions. These may be used during their turn at any point in the combat sequence other than on the first. (Note: Only one extra attack/action may be used per round.)
4) Once the base number of rounds is over initiative is re-rolled and the sequence starts again.

Confused? Here’s an example:

At a game, there are four players and one GM.
- Ralphie is playing a merc and has 5 attacks. His initiative roll is a 13.
- Bob is playing a hatching dragon and has 4 attacks. Initiative rolled is 7.
- Larry is playing a gunslinger and has 6 attacks with his pistol. Initiative is 19.
- Darryl is playing a psi-stalker and has 5 attacks. Initiative rolled is 15.
- The GM rolls for a brodkill that has 5 attacks. It gets a 16 initiative.

According to the scenario above, combat will occur on a base 4 system. Ralphie and Darryl each have one extra action. Larry has two extra actions. These extra actions may be used in the second or third round of combat but not in the first or last. Had Bob had five attacks, the base would have been 5. If Bob had 6 attacks the base still would have been 5 as Darryl only has five attacks.

To break this down further, here is the initiative and number of attacks/actions that each character will most likely use during the first melee.

Round 1:
Larry- 1 action (Draws a pistol)
Brodkill – 1 action (Charges party)
Darryl – 1 action (Draws a pistol)
Ralphie – 1 action (Grabs his E-Rifle)
Bob – 1 action (Breathes fire)

Round 2
Larry – 2 actions (Fires twice)
Brodkill – 1 action (Tries to melee Daryll)
Darryl – 2 actions (Dodges attack, takes a shot)
Ralphie – 1 action (Ducks behind cover)
Bob – 1 action (Melee attacks Brodkill)

Round 3
Larry – 2 actions (Fires twice)
Brodkill – 2 actions (Attacks Bob twice)
Darryl – 1 action (fires once)
Ralphie – 2 actions (Fires once, Yells to Darry l to run to APC)
Bob – 1 action (Dodges attack)

Round 4
Larry- 1 action (Fires once)
Brodkill – 1 action (Attacks Bob)
Darryl – 1 action (runs to APC)
Ralphie – 1 action (Fires once)
Bob – 1 action (Attacks Brodkill)

At this point initiative is re-rolled and a new round begins.

The idea behind this is that everyone begins and ends the melee at the same time. Everyone acts on the first round and at least once on each subsequent round thereafter. With the base X system the characters with more attacks simply move a bit faster than others but everyone moves together. Remember, characters can use attacks/combat actions to do more than just attack.

• If he wants to do this, does he lose his action in the next "round"?
• When does the effect go off - immediately, or during the next round?

anapuna wrote:the downside is if the the disparity between the lowest number and the highest are too far. so lets say if you have

A 4apms
B 8apms
C 5apms
D 5apms
with the OPs rules PC B has to do 2 actions on the 1st action. now add player E
E 2apms (yes this possible)


i think this only works in games where the PCs APMs are really close together. otherwise i have no complaints and might actually use it.